Straighter than Parallel Parking

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Short A/N: I WROTE 40K WORDS YESTERDAY. CAN I PLEASE GET A CAKE? (votes/comments are nice chairty, too!). James in le chapter. PICTURE ABOVE! Hope you like!

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{ Chapter Four: The Secrets To Getting a Sexy Job }

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IT WAS A NO-BRAINER THAT JANICE WOULD SCOUT A JOB OUT IN THE OHIO MALL, a mall not only large and wide, but with a miscellaneous list of stores and shops to decide from.

But the exterior was not to be overlooked, glass clad where the cement blocks were not, layers and layers of floors, like a wedding cake, amongst the elevators, escalators and numerous exists and entrances.

Unfortunately for Janice, she never had many friends in her all-girls high school, especially since she preferred to keep to herself.

She's never experienced the mall-time girl extravaganza. Yes, she had acquaintances, and yes, she knew of people she actually liked, but never to a point would their friendship progress where she could confide her secrets to or call them a best friend.

Those titles were reserved, she guesses, just for her brothers.

Which was why she had made Karlo drive her all the way over, even suffering through his obnoxious grumbling the entire way. "Why couldn't you have made Alejandro get you out? He got his driver's license last week and his car isn't that bad."

"I did ask," she says, "and he was too occupied with his gaming console to say anything to me. Seriously, you'd think that the only stable relationship in his life would be his PS4."

"It is," Karlo smirks. "Any other girl wouldn't have a liking for a guy stuck to a screen or as clingy as he is."

Janice mirrors his smirk. "I always find it amusing on how you always think you know the female's mind. It makes me wonder..."

"Shut up," Karlo shoves Janice.

They were currently in the car, and maybe she was stalling, but she didn't care. Unless Karlo forcefully got her out, she doubted she'd have the strength to heave open the door and jump out herself.

Thankfully, Karlo made it happen another way (without physically harming her, so bonus points).

"I think it's sad that I know more about the female mind than you do," Karlo laughs, but for some odd reason, it strikes a nerve.

Janice knows Karlo is just teasing (when isn't he?), but she couldn't help but feel as if she was... she doesn't know, a disgrace to womanhood or something.

She hates that she can't even stop herself from bringing up her stupid (stupid, stupid, stupid times 24) Aunt Maria's words up about her lack of femininity or her teachers shrieking at her that her mannerisms were anything but ladylike.

She sets a grimace and opens the car door silently. "Thanks for the ride."

"Hey, you okay?" Karlo instantly notices the change in atmosphere, deja vu to the morning when his sister seemed to be really tense. "I promise I'm manly. I'm probably the most masculine person you'll ever meet."

Then, with an afterthought, he adds, "In Diego pants and a cousin with a Dora onesie type of manly way. If that's a manly way."

"If you have to question yourself about that, I'm pretty sure you know the answer to that," Janice snorts, but grateful that Karlo could pick up on her negativity.

She really had to hand it to him for being awesome. When he wasn't being a jerk (which is roughly 95% of the time; the other 5% was always nice, though).